And just exactly as it is written in plain English (of whatever version you prefer): That Adam and Eve were real people created directly from dust and bone as bases; that Eve was convinced by a talking snake to eat the forbidden fruit; that the Garden contained a Tree of Life that would have made them immortal and become like God had they been able to eat its fruit; and that all those elements of the story are literal truths, not metaphors or other things that are supposed to be understood as meaning something other than what they state and describe?

I’m not asking for defense or even discussion of one’s beliefs either way, but if you have something to say, please be respectful of others’ opinions.

Question:
Is the A&E story the literal description of things that really occurred on Earth some thousands of years ago?
.

Choices:
Yes
No

 

Can’t say that I do. I also don’t believe most of anything in the Bible occurred as written or at all for that matter.

I believe the creation story as told in the Bible is accurate.

We were having this discussion when I was stationed up in the Florida Panhandle years back, a cross-section of GI's from all over the country and a few local folk were there.

Civilian supervisor came in the room, listened to us for a minute and said "Takes a lot of faith to believe in evolution", then walked away.

Had never thought about the issue that way before.

I believe it to be an allegory.

I think that much of the Old Testament is stories being passed down from folks trying to explain stuff they couldn't (and we still can't) comprehend. I don't think it makes any sense to treat stories like Adam and Even, 200-year old (or whatever it was) Abraham, Noah and the Ark, etc. as historical accounts.

I don't necessarily believe the Adam & Eve story is accurate in its details, just as I don't believe that a lot of the Creation story is. I do, however, believe the Universe, Earth, and humans were created by God, and that the Genesis stories are a very generalized recitation of how it happened. The Bible is not a science text and one cannot expect exactitude when many concepts now known were unknown to the scribes back then. They saw the visions from God about it and wrote it up the best they could.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I believe it to be an allegory.

Agree. Further, it doesn't diminish religion, faith, belief, God, etc.

In fact, the opposite. I think people miss the point of many of the Bible's 'stories' because they take a literal approach, rather than thinking about a deeper meaning.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I believe it to be an allegory.

I agree, allegory.

It's a simplified allegory, intended to be easily understood and orally passed along by the target audience of the time.

Or as it was so amusingly put in the other thread:

quote:

Originally posted by whanson_wi:
The Hebrews that recorded the story of Genesis had to be told - and told repeatedly - to stop screwing their sheep. Which are they going to understand and remember, "4.5 billion years" or "7 days"?

I believe in the bible.

No, but when I did previously I thought of it as a simplified allegory.

quote:

Originally posted by zipriderson:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I believe it to be an allegory.

Agree. Further, it doesn't diminish religion, faith, belief, God, etc.

In fact, the opposite. I think people miss the point of many of the Bible's 'stories' because they take a literal approach, rather than thinking about a deeper meaning.

Religion is why, science is how.

If you take the Bible, and really any other religious text, as totally literal, it really takes all the magic out of it. It makes one look around today and ask "where did the magic go?" If I had to look at such things, and take them as the truth as written, well I'd end up totally atheist because it sounds ridiculous, especially when overlayed with the world I see around me.

Who is to say what is literal when we don't understand what God is? It really doesn't matter, though, because whatever was, was.

I believe it literally!!

quote:

Originally posted by zipriderson:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I believe it to be an allegory.

Agree. Further, it doesn't diminish religion, faith, belief, God, etc.

In fact, the opposite. I think people miss the point of many of the Bible's 'stories' because they take a literal approach, rather than thinking about a deeper meaning.

That's where I come down.
It's a beautiful story, told to teach a lesson.
The names, dates and other details are irrelevant. Who cares if the devil actually took the form of a snake and spoke to Eve? The important thing is that she was tempted by the evil one to do what she knew was wrong.

Yes, I do.

Thanks for the replies thus far.
To make clear, though, believing it is allegory is not believing that it is literally true. That is, believing it is allegory would warrant a “No” reply to the poll. (At least for the purposes of this poll—and assuming there is any question in anyone’s mind. )

No, no more than any other creation story of any other religion.

Yes, I believe it literally. In Luke 3 the lineage of Jesus is traced back to Adam. If Adam and Eve are allegorical, then everything else is allegorical. That just doesn’t work for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Kraquin:
No, no more than any other creation story of any other religion.

I feel the same. I personally feel they are all mythology. No disrespect intended to those of faith.